Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-06-10

holes! Jnlimber the guns and load ana
fire one great broadside that shall shake
the continents i'll honor OF peace and TIE
| eternity of the American ,lnioEs
But 1 lift my hand, and Inc scene has
vanished. Many of the ships have dropped
under the crystal pavement of the deep,
/ sea monsters swimming i'll md out the
forsaken cabin, and other Old Graf have
swung into the navy yards, and many OF
the brave spirits who trod their decks had
gone up to the Eternal fortress, from
whose easements and embrasures may We
not hope they look down to-day with 10y
upon nation in reunited brotherhood
At this annual commemoration l bethlnk
that most of you who were in the naval
service during our late war ire now in the
afternoon or evening of life. With some
of you it is = o'clock, 3 clock, O'Clock,
O'clock, and it will soon be shutdown.
If you were OF age when the wal lrote
out YOU ore now at least is. Many of YOU
have passed into the sixties and the seven.
ties; therefore. it is appropriate that hold
two great lights for your illumination
example Of Christian admi1als consecrated
to Christ and their country--Admiral loote
and Admiral Farragut.
Had the Christian religion been cow
ardly thing they would hare had nothing
to do with it. In its faitl they lived and
died. In our Brooklyn nay yard Admiral
Foote held prayer meetings and conducted
revival on the receiving ship North Caro-
lima, and on Sabbaths, far out at sea- lol
lowed the chaplain with religious exhorta-
ton. In early life, on board the sloop of
war Natchez, impressed by the words OF
for two weeks 10 the Bible, and at the end
of that declared openly: "Henceforth,
under all circumstances, will actfor God. J"
His last words, while dying at the Astor
House, New York, We're: Il thank God
for all his goodness to me. He has been
very good to me-" When heentered heaven
he did not have TO run ablockade, for it
was amid the cheers of great welcome.
The other Christian admirl will be honored
until the day when the Tres from above
shall lick up the waters rom beneath and
there shall be no more s.a.
Oh, while old oceans breast
Bears white sal,
And God soft stn,s to rest
Guide through tle gale,
Men will him ne'el forget,
Old heart of oak
Farrugut! Farrng1t!
Ihunderbolt st1)kc!
According to his owa statement, Farra-
gut was very loose in his morals il early
manhood. and prac,ced ali kinds of sin.
One day he was calId into the cabin of
his father, who war shipmaster. His
father said: "David. what are YOU going
to be, anyhow" He answered: q am going
to follow the sea-" Follow the sea-" said
the father, "and be Kicked about the world
and die in a foreign lospital?" NO, said
David; 81 am going to command, like you"
No." said the father; "a boy of your habits
will never command anything" and his
father burst into teas and left the cabin.
From that day David Farragut started on a
new life. r. Il. Pennington, an honored
elder of THIS church, was with him in most
of his battles and htd his intimate friend
ship, and he confirms, what had heard else
where, that Farragut was good and a
Christian. In every great crisis CT life he
asked and obtained the divine direction.
When in Mobile BAY the monitor Tecum-
ship Brooklyn, that was to lead the
squadron, turned back he said he was at
a loss to know whether to advance or re-
treat, and he says: II prayed: oh, God,
who created man and gave him reason,
directed me what to do. Shall | go on?'
And voice commanded me: go on, ana
went on" Was there ever more touch
ing Christian letter than that which he
wrote to his wife from his flagship Hart
ford? "NIy dearest wife, I write and
leave this letter to yon. ] am going into
Mobile Bay in the morning, if Goo is my
leader, and L hope He is, and in Him I
place my trust. If He thinks it is the
proper place for me to die / am really to
submit to His will i'll that as all other
things. God bless and preserve yor, my
should happen to me, may His blessings
rest upon You and Your dear motLe and
all your sisters and their children"
Cheerful to the end, lie said on board the
Tallapoosa in the last voyage he ever took:
at would be we'll if l died now in harness."
The sublime Episcopal service for the dead
Was never more appropriately read than
over his casliet, and we'll did all the forts
i'll New York harbor thunder as his body
was brought to our wharf, and we'll did the
minute guns sound and the bells toll as in
procession having in its ranks the lresi-
dent of the United States and his cabinet,
and the mighty men Of land and sea. the
old Admiral was carried amid hundreds Of
thousands of uncovered heads on Broad
way and laid Oh his pillow Of dust in beau
tiful Woodlawn, Sept. 40, amid the pomp
OF our antumnal forests.
Ie veterans who sailed and fought under
him, take your Admirals God and Christ
for your God and Christ After o few
more conflicts you too will rest. For the
few remaining fights with sin, and death,
and hell make ready. Strip your vessel
for the fray; hang the sheet chains over the
side. Send down the topgallant masts.
Barricade the wheel. Rig in the flying lib
boom. Steer straight for the shining shore,
and hear the shout Of the great Commander
of earth and heaven as he cries from the
shrouds: "To him that overcometh, will
give to eat of the tree of life which is in
the midst of the paradise of God"
How the Poor Live in Italy.
A marvellous degree of economy is
practiced even in the smallest details.
grounds from the wealthy mans
kitchen are dried and sold to the poor
In similar way oil is twice and some-